MOBILE, Alabama – Manja Leyk is about to mark a milestone with her business, Manna Bakery, a one-woman tour de force with a fast-growing fan base.

Leyk bakes 12-grain, sugar-free, organic and fiber-packed breads, and luscious torts, marzipan cakes and other desserts, and sells them all across town and on the Eastern Shore. On March 16, she’ll celebrate one year selling sandwiches, loaves, muffins and more at Urban Emporium, 260 Dauphin St. in downtown Mobile.

With so much success in general sales and catering, she is hoping to expand her business and offerings. “I want to increase my assortment,” she said, explaining that she wants to make it easier for her clients to buy fresh, healthy components for a complete dinner.

She gets nearly all of her supplies from local farmers. “I try to stay as local as possible,” she said. Her sources include Working Cows Dairy in Slocomb, Henrietta's Goat Farm in Mobile and Mae Grace Farm in Loxley, among many others.

Leyk moved here from Germany about five years ago, and started baking first for her family – “we missed hearty bread,” she said – then for fellow Germans in town. After she set up a booth at the Market in the Square, her sales soared.

Now, her workdays are lengthy. She gets started as early as 4:30 a.m. for morning deliveries, then bakes for the rest of the day, working around school carpool times with her three young sons, ages 8, 6, and 4.

If you live in west Mobile, you will find her products at Redbar Espresso & Market on Tanner-Williams Road, or at the farmers’ market at Christ United Methodist Church, which resumes in mid-May. On the Eastern Shore, you’ll find Manna Bakery goods at the Fairhope Farmers’ Market on Thursdays; you may also buy them through Chasing Fresh, a delivery service of homegrown produce and organic products. Manna Bakery treats are also at Cold Snap in Midtown.

Leyk also bakes a variety of gluten-free breads and desserts. She bakes the cakes with almond flour and the bread with fava bean and rice flour.

Mobile’s farmers’ market in Cathedral Square resumes April 27. Until then, drop by Urban Emporium Monday-Saturday for an apple-carrot or ginger-pear muffin, a sandwich, a slice of quiche, or a hearty sourdough loaf to take home. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.